ralphv1 A tense and brooding British film about an alien invasion told from the limited perspective of several people of disparate backgrounds who come together in a small English village. The film begins creepily enough with people dropping dead, some at the controls of vehicles, others while waiting for trains or doing other mundane tasks. The characters postulate that it was a gas attack because the survivors who tell their backstories all were cut off from outside air--in a high-altitude aircraft, in an oxygen tent, squatting in a bomb shelter, etc. Some characters are vague about their backgrounds, but none more so than Taggert. He carries a gun, dresses nattily, is highly secretive, and can pick a lock in seven seconds. Some might guess him a hood, but I'm thinking government agent, perhaps MI5. The wholesale death that may encompass all England, perhaps the world, is a prelude to an invasion. Who's behind it? That's a question left to conjecture, both by the characters and the audience. It's a vagueness that, to me, works within the context of the story. This film has some connections unnoticed by IMDb, primarily "The Poison Belt," a Professor Challenger story by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in which the world succumbs to a gas zone through which it passes. The second connection is to another Professor Challenger story, "The Earth Screams," echoed in the film title. The theme is also carried in the film "Target Earth" in which several people awaken in a deserted city and are hunted by mechanical invaders. Connections aside, the film is engaging on its own merits and uses its limited budget to good effect. A great example of mid-century B- film science fiction, a last effort to appeal to an adult British audience before film studios realized the age of the average movie-goer was dropping, and dropping quickly.

ctomvelu1 Solid movie of its type, a 1960s British-made, low-budget, sci-fi drama that plays like a stage production and stars a veteran American actor to appeal to the U.S. market. In this case, the lead is Willard Parker of "Texas Rangers" TV fame, and Thorley "Doctor Watson" Walters is one of his costars. Parker plays a test pilot who returns to earth one day to find almost everyone dead. He stumbles upon a few other survivors, who were all shielded in various ways at the moment of doom. The handful of survivors holes up in a hotel in a small town and fight an army of alien robots that have come to conquer our planet. Most of the film is interaction among the survivors. There are no special effects and little action. And yet, in the hands of masterful director Terrence Fisher, the film is atmospheric and reasonably suspenseful. The robots are just plain silly, but everything else works. Reminiscent of "Village of the Damned," and in fact apparently used footage from that long-ago classic. See it.

bobc-5 Unconscious people peacefully slump over the controls of the trains, planes and automobiles they were piloting. This is naturally followed by the crashes of the aforementioned vehicles. A few lone survivors show up and band together as they try to figure things out. The screaming doesn't actually start until some strange space-suited creatures begin slowly lumbering around town and are eventually joined by those they've recently killed.The movie perhaps tries a little harder than comparable films in trying to create a dramatic scenario of survivors dealing with the aftermath of a holocaust they don't understand, but not a lot harder. Plot, character development and dramatic tension are mostly absent and the film plods along nearly as slowly as the completely out-of-place zombies. This may be a low-budget sci-fi film with laughable special effects and an over-the-top title, but the camp value is almost non-existent. On the plus side, its short running time does take some mercy on fans of the genre who feel compelled to see this movie in spite of its limited entertainment potential.

Scarecrow-88 Fascinating opening to Terrence Fisher's "The Earth Dies Screaming" has the human race of a village in Northern England collapsing into a state of catatonia(it appears as if the locals were rendered unconscious while in the middle of their daily routines)while a small band of survivors collect at an inn in an attempt to join forces so that they can move together because larger numbers can lend each other a hand instead of facing whatever "enemy" has caused the cataclysmic crisis alone individually. Willard Parker is a pilot, Jeff Nolan, who tries to band together an assemblage of people who gather reluctantly with one another, such as the sneaky Quinn Taggart(Dennis Price) and irresponsible drunk Otis(Thorley Walters) hoping to salvage a possible catastrophic situation. Nolan believes that most cities are in the same condition as their village, and the group find another frightening threat to contend with..robotic machines who are under the power of a signal from an electronic tower somewhere, and those human victims lying in the streets are used as mindless slaves with blank eyes who seem to be at the command of the machines whose touch paralyzes anyone that comes in contact with them. Meanwhile other characters include Peggy(Virginia Field)who becomes very dependent of Nolan while Quinn wants her to himself, actually holding her a gunpoint demanding she come along with him. Violet(Vanda Godsell)was Otis' companion, an unfortunate victim who confronts the machines not knowing what danger they were. David Spenser is Mel and Anna Palk is his pregnant wife Lorna..they service the plot as an "Adam and Eve" for this apocalyptic, character-driven melodrama formatted in a sci-fi thriller scenario.At only a mere 62 minutes, we watch as our cast come to grips with the dilemma they find themselves. The idea that a toxic gas released in the atmosphere causing instant death to those who breathe it unknowingly(it isn't visible, a silent killer)doesn't seem so far fetched even(or especially)in today's modern world. There's just something so eerie regarding the sight of bodies lain strewn in the streets as a reminder of what can happen ever so quickly. "The Earth Dies Screaming" really has a whopper of an opening, the way a car slams into a brick wall, a plane crashing in a forest, a train derailment, a traveler falling dead, human zombies marching at the command of robots, it's all quite unusual and spooky. No broadcasts from either the television or radio. Just the repeated humming sound which works as a beacon that sends the machines on their way towards seizing as many human slaves as possible. We never get a clear definition as to who was behind this attack, and that may make this plot all the more scarier, the thought that we may not know who is on the offensive at any given time, a quiet predator as deadly as the toxic gas which led to the devastating collapse of civilization..one moment, we are living our normal lives, the next, bodies lying throughout street corners. If you can look past the hokey title, the movie might just work for you. It has it's share of suspenseful sequences where characters like Peggy almost become trapped by the human ghouls and robots, and the understanding that, at any time, the robots could return. Sure, as a B-movie, there's a resolution to the terror they face, but, it's a nice ride until they get there. Nice lead role for Parker, as the source of confidence and strength for the group who need to be motivated since the crisis seems awfully bleak. Interesting method behind the short few who were "exempt" from the same fate as their species..they were fortunate enough to be in areas guarded against the gas which took countless lives. It was nice to see a thriller, in B&W, made by Fisher, proving how versatile he could be, not just a director of classic horror from the Universal brand.